Kirchenakte Documented events from judgments, reports and church documents
Person 2 Jul 1489-21 Mar 1556 · 66 years old · show in timeline

Thomas Cranmer (1489 to 1556): Archbishop of Canterbury, under Mary I excommunicated by the pope, degraded and burnt; at the end he retracted his recantations

Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury under Henry VIII and Edward VI, was imprisoned at Oxford under Mary I. Ridley and Latimer were burnt on 16 October 1555. A papal commission tried him, and on 25 November the pope pronounced him contumacious and excommunicated him. In February 1556 he was degraded at Oxford and handed over to the secular power. He signed recantations, but renounced them on 21 March and held his right hand first in the fire.

Life dates
2 Jul 1489-21 Mar 1556 (66 years old)
Country
United Kingdom
Institutions
Holy See
Catholic Church in England
Category
Heresy trials, Persecution
Level of evidence
B two independent scholarly sources · what does this mean?

What happened to the people

Who was affected? Victims and numbers

  1. Cranmer signed recantations. On 21 March 1556 he was to repeat his recantation in St Mary's, but instead declared that he renounced all his recantations. His right hand, which had written them, should burn first; and so it did.
    Evidence: Cambridge University Press (Wikisource), Artikel Cranmer, Thomas
    „he renounced and refused all his recantations as things written with his hand“
    Cranmer, Thomas, in: Encyclopædia Britannica (1911), Bd. 7, Artikel Cranmer, Thomas. Original
    Evidence: Cambridge University Press (Wikisource), Artikel Cranmer, Thomas
    „his right hand was steadfastly exposed to the flames“
    Cranmer, Thomas, in: Encyclopædia Britannica (1911), Bd. 7, Artikel Cranmer, Thomas. Original

How were they charged and sentenced?

  1. In September 1555 a papal commission tried Cranmer. He was summoned to Rome but not permitted to attend. On 25 November the pope pronounced him contumacious and excommunicated him. In February 1556 Bishop Bonner degraded him at Oxford, and he was handed over to the secular power.
    Evidence: Cambridge University Press (Wikisource), Artikel Cranmer, Thomas
    „where Cranmer was summoned, but not permitted, to attend“
    Cranmer, Thomas, in: Encyclopædia Britannica (1911), Bd. 7, Artikel Cranmer, Thomas. Original
    Evidence: Cambridge University Press (Wikisource), Artikel Cranmer, Thomas
    „he was pronounced contumacious by the pope and excommunicated“
    Cranmer, Thomas, in: Encyclopædia Britannica (1911), Bd. 7, Artikel Cranmer, Thomas. Original
    Evidence: Smith, Elder & Co. (Wikisource), Artikel Bonner, Edmund
    „In February 1556 Bonner was sent to Oxford with Thirlby, bishop of Ely, to degrade Archbishop Cranmer“
    Bonner, Edmund, in: Dictionary of National Biography, Bd. 5 (1886), Artikel Bonner, Edmund. Original

Background

Course of events

  1. Cranmer was born on 2 July 1489. In March 1554 he was taken with Ridley and Latimer to Oxford and held in the Bocardo prison. Ridley and Latimer died at the stake on 16 October 1555.
    Evidence: Cambridge University Press (Wikisource), Artikel Cranmer, Thomas
    „suffered bravely at the stake on the 16th of October 1555“
    Cranmer, Thomas, in: Encyclopædia Britannica (1911), Bd. 7, Artikel Cranmer, Thomas. Original
    Evidence: Cambridge University Press (Wikisource), Artikel Cranmer, Thomas
    „in Nottinghamshire on the 2nd of July 1489“
    Cranmer, Thomas, in: Encyclopædia Britannica (1911), Bd. 7, Artikel Cranmer, Thomas. Original

See also

Scholarly literature and reference works

  1. Reference work
    Cambridge University Press (Wikisource): Cranmer, Thomas, in: Encyclopædia Britannica (1911), Bd. 7, 1 January 1911. Original (retrieved 31 Oct 2026)
  2. Reference work
    Smith, Elder & Co. (Wikisource): Bonner, Edmund, in: Dictionary of National Biography, Bd. 5 (1886), 1 January 1886. Original (retrieved 31 Oct 2026)
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Last changed on 31 October 2026. Is something missing or wrong? Suggest an addition or correction.